Blog

Get the latest updates from Dr. Maltz through her monthly newsletter!

Childhood obesity leads to type 2 diabetes, which, as a recent study just revealed is not easily treated with pills. Instead kids in the study quickly needed to learn to inject insulin in order to control their blood sugars. Sticking yourself 4-5 times a day and having to calculate the correct amount of insulin to inject based on what you are planning to eat is no easy task. Just ask any type I diabetic...it's NO fun! And uncontrolled blood sugars lead to a flurry of complications later on that are completely preventable, ie, amputations, digestive problems, neuropathies, blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, stroke, etc, etc. So my message to you is - do the right thing. PREVENT TYPE 2 DIABETES IN CHILDREN AND YOURSELVES by eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, getting off of the sweets, breads and other carbs and MOVING EVERY DAY. Read below for more details of the study's findings. Have a great day! Dr. MFrom the AMA (American Medical Association) daily newsletter - "A study on blood sugar control in young patients with type 2 diabetes received moderate print and online coverage. It was the lead story on one national news broadcast and appeared on the front page of one major paper. Most sources portrayed the study's findings as disappointing, and indicative of the difficulties faced by physicians trying to treat young patients with the condition. The CBS Evening News (4/29, lead story, 2:10, Glor) reported that "the release of a new report offers new insight" on how to treat young patients with type 2 diabetes. During a second segment on CBS Evening News (4/29, story 2, 0:50, Glor), Dr. Robin Goland of Columbia University Medical Center discusses the findings. The New York Times (4/30, A10, Grady, Subscription Publication) reports, "As obesity rates in children have climbed, so has the incidence of type 2 diabetes, and" the "study adds another worry: the disease progresses more rapidly in children than in adults and is harder to treat." In a front-page story, the Wall Street Journal (4/30, A1, Winslow, Subscription Publication) reports that the study was published online in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting. The National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases sponsored the research. The AP (4/30, Chang) reports that that the research included nearly 700 "overweight and obese teens recently diagnosed with diabetes." Participants "had their blood sugar normalized with metformin, then were given one of three treatments to try to maintain that control: metformin alone, metformin plus diet and exercise counseling, or metformin plus a second drug, Avandia [rosiglitazone]." The San Antonio Express-News (4/30, Finley) reports that "even with the aggressive, two-drug treatment, 39 percent of those children lost the ability to produce insulin on their own and had to switch to insulin shots. That was better than the 46.6 percent failure rate for the metformin and lifestyle group, and 52 percent for those only taking metformin." "Perhaps the study's biggest paradox was the failure of exercise and dietary counseling to lead to substantial weight loss large enough to help manage or even reverse the diabetes," the Boston Globe (4/30, Kotz) reports. According to Bloomberg News (4/30, Gale, Gale), "The report didn't say why type 2 diabetes is harder to treat in children, though the researchers suggested the normal growth cycle may be at least partly at fault." HealthDay (4/30, Reinberg) reports that the researchers also found that "blood sugar control was harder to achieve in black and Hispanic children." WebMD (4/30, Boyles) points out that "in September of 2010, while the trial was under way, the FDA placed broad restrictions on Avandia's use following reports of heart attacks and strokes in adults taking the drug." Patients "in the Avandia part of the study continued taking the drug following a safety review, and no serious side effects were reported." MedPage Today (4/30, Fiore) reports, "In an accompanying editorial, David Allen, MD, of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, called the overall findings of the trial 'discouraging' because of the high rates of treatment failure across all three groups.'"

DISCLAIMER: The content of this website does not serve as medical advice nor does it substitute for a thorough medicalevaluation by a qualified health care practitioner. It also does not represent the opinions of any of the medical institiutions or practitioners mentioned. Consult a physician or local health care provider before changing any medications, diet or exercise regimen.

Author

Dr. Maltz earned a Medical Degree and Master in Public Health from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, TX. She completed a combined Internal and Preventive Medicine Residency at UTMB in June, 2011. She is currently partaking in a 2-year Integrative Medicine Fellowship at Stamford Hospital in Stamford, CT, during which she will undergo an intensive 1000-hour curriculum created by The University of Arizona Integrative Medicine Program founded by Dr. Andrew Weil.

Dr. Maltz's specific interests include helping her patients and populations improve their health through lifestyle interventions including, but not limited to, natural pain relief, nutrition, mind-body techniques and decreasing environmental exposures. She spent the last year of her four-year medical residency participating in health policy, cancer prevention and environmental health rotations and enjoys guiding people through the overwhelming amount of health information available on the web.